The best tanks of World War II according to Discovery. Military review and politics The best light tank of the second world war

21.09.2019

When tanks appeared during the First World War, it became clear that it would no longer be possible to fight the battles as before. Old-fashioned tactical schemes and tricks completely refused to work against mechanical "animals" equipped with machine guns and cannons. But " finest hour»steel monsters fell on the next war - the Second World War. That the Germans, that the allies were well aware that the key to success is hidden precisely in powerful tracked vehicles. Therefore, crazy money was allocated for the constant modernization of tanks. Thanks to this, metal "predators" have evolved at a rapid pace.

This soviet tank gained the status of a legend as soon as he appeared on the battlefields. The metal beast was equipped with a diesel engine for 500 "horses", "advanced" armor, a 76 mm F-34 gun and wide tracks. This configuration allowed the T-34 to become the best tank of its time.

Another advantage of the combat vehicle was the simplicity and manufacturability of its design. Thanks to this, it was possible to establish mass production of the tank in the shortest possible time. Already by the summer of 1942, about 15 thousand T-34s were produced. In total, during the production of the USSR, more than 84 thousand "thirty-fourths" in various modifications were created.

In total, about 84 thousand T-34s were produced

The main problem of the tank was its transmission. The fact is that she, along with the power unit, were in a special compartment located in the stern. Thanks to this technical solution, the cardan shaft turned out to be unnecessary. The leading role was assigned to control rods, the length of which was about 5 meters. Accordingly, it was difficult for the driver to manage them. And if a person coped with difficulties, then the metal sometimes gave slack - the traction was simply torn. Therefore, T-34s often went into battle in one gear, switched on in advance.

"Tiger" was created with one goal - to crush any enemy and turn him into a stampede. Hitler himself personally ordered that the new tank be covered with a frontal armor plate 100 millimeters thick. And the stern and sides of the "Tiger" were covered with armor of 80 millimeters. The main "trump card" of the combat vehicle was the weapon - this is the 88 mm KwK 36 cannon, created on the basis of the "anti-aircraft gun". The gun was distinguished by a sequence of hits and also a record rate of fire. Even in combat conditions, the KwK 36 could “spit” shells as many as 8 times in a minute.

In addition, the "Tiger" was another of the fastest tanks of the time. It was set in motion by the Maybakhovsky power unit with 700 hp. He was accompanied by an 8-speed hydromechanical gearbox. And along the chassis, the tank could accelerate to 45 km / h.

"Tiger" cost 800,000 Reichsmarks

It is curious that in the technical memo that lay in each "Tiger", there was an inscription: "The tank costs 800,000 Reichsmarks. Take care of him!". Goebbels believed that the tankers would be proud to be entrusted with such an expensive toy. But the reality was often different. The soldiers were terrified that something might happen to the tank.

Tank evolution developed rapidly. Opponents constantly brought to the "ring" more and more advanced fighters. IS-2 was a worthy answer to the USSR. The heavy breakthrough tank was equipped with a 122 mm howitzer. If a shell from this gun hit a building, then, in fact, only ruins remained from it.

In addition to the howitzer, the arsenal of the IS-2 included 12.7 mm DShK machine gun located on the tower. The bullets fired from this weapon pierced even the thickest brickwork. Therefore, the enemies had practically no chance to hide from the formidable metal monster. Another important advantage of the tank is its armor. It reached 120 mm.

Shot IS-2 turned the building into ruins

There were, of course, and without minuses. The main thing - fuel tanks in the department of management. If the enemy managed to break through the armor, then the crew of the Soviet tank had practically no chance of escaping. The driver was the worst. After all, he did not have his own hatch.

Before confronting the Germans, heavy tank passed baptism of fire in the war with the Finns. The monster weighing 45 tons was an invincible enemy until the very end of 1941. Tank protection was 75 millimeters of steel. Frontal armor plates were located so well that the shell resistance terrified the Germans. Still would! After all, their 37 mm anti-tank guns could not penetrate the KV-1 even from a minimum distance. As for 50 mm guns, then the limit is 500 meters. And a Soviet tank, equipped with a long-barreled 76 mm F-34 gun, could knock out the enemy from a distance of about one and a half kilometers.

Weak transmission - the main "sore" KV-1

But, unfortunately, the tank also had shortcomings. the main problem consisted in a "raw" design, which was hastily put into production. The real "Achilles heel" of the KV-1 was the transmission. because of heavy loads related to the weight of the combat vehicle, it broke too often. Therefore, during retreats, tanks had to be abandoned or destroyed. Since it was unrealistic to repair them in combat conditions.

Nevertheless, the Germans managed to snatch several KV-1s. But they didn't let them in. Constant breakdowns and the lack of necessary spare parts quickly put an end to captured cars.

The German "Panther" weighing 44 tons was superior to the T-34 in mobility. On the highway, this "predator" could accelerate to almost 60 km / h. He was armed with a 75 mm KwK 42 cannon, in which the barrel length was 70 calibers. The "Panther" could "spit" with an armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile flying a kilometer in the first second. Thereby German car could knock out almost any enemy tank at a distance exceeding a couple of kilometers.

"Panther" could penetrate the armor of the tank at a distance of over 2 kilometers

If the forehead of the "Panther" was protected by an armor plate with a thickness of 60 to 80 mm, then the armor on the sides was thinner. Therefore, Soviet tanks tried to hit the "beast" in that weak spot.

In total, Germany managed to create about 6 thousand Panthers. One more thing is curious: in March 1945, hundreds of these tanks, equipped with night vision devices, launched an attack on Soviet troops near Balaton. But even this technical trick did not help.

Despite the fact that the first World War marked the appearance of the tank, World War II saw the real "grin" of this mechanical war beast. He played a vital role during the war. Most of the armies produced tanks, and their production increased every day. The USSR, Great Britain, USA, France, Germany, Italy and Japan produced huge numbers of tanks, both before and during World War II. Below we will talk about the ten best tanks of the Second World War - the most powerful combat vehicles of the time.

Tank M4 Sherman - "Sherman" (USA)

One of the most produced combat vehicles of the Second World War. Production was established not only by the United States of America, but also by other allied states. The release of "Sherman" was mainly carried out according to American program lend-lease, which provided military assistance to countries opposing Nazi Germany.

Sherman Firefly - "Sherman Firefly" (UK)

The British version of the Sherman tank, despite its affectionate nickname "Firefly", was equipped with a devastating 17-pounder anti-tank gun, which had more power than the American Sherman's 75 mm cannon. The 17-pound barrel was powerful enough to defeat enemy tanks that he encountered in his area of \u200b\u200boperations.

The heavy tank "Joseph Stalin", better known as the IS-2, was named after the leader of the USSR and at the time of its appearance was the strongest in the world. His armor successfully withstood German fire. anti-tank artillery, and after modernization, when the "stepped" upper frontal part was replaced with its straightened configuration, it could hold the shells of the most powerful 88-mm anti-tank at close range Pak guns 43. The tank itself was armed with a 122-mm cannon, the shells of which pierced tanks such as Tank PzKpfw IV Ausf H, PzKpfw.VI Tiger and PzKpfw V Panther right through.

JagdPanther

According to the German classification, the JagdPanther is a tank destroyer. This machine is considered one of the the best self-propelled guns Second World War. Having fought on the Western and Eastern fronts, the JagdPanther proved to be a dangerous enemy, its Pak.43 L/71 (88 mm, 71 caliber) cannon pierced the armor of almost any Allied tank from 1000 meters.

M4 Sherman

The most massive tank of the American army during World War II, about 50 thousand of these vehicles were produced in total.

The simple and reliable M4 Sherman was loved by tank crews. Its 75-mm gun, equipped with a Westinghouse gyroscopic stabilizer, made it possible to fire quite accurately even on the move. However, with the advent of the PzKpfw.VI "Tiger" and PzKpfw V "Panther", its armor penetration was not enough, and subsequently the tank was equipped with a more powerful gun. The main drawbacks of the tank were the high silhouette and weak armor, and the tank often caught fire when a projectile hit it. The Germans even nicknamed the M4 Sherman as the "Burning Cauldron" or "Soldier's Cauldron".

PzKpfw V "Panther"

This tank was created as a response to the Soviet T-34 and was subsequently supposed to replace the Panzer III and IV. Due to the technological complexity of production, this was not possible, as well as to bring the design of the tank to perfection - the PzKpfw V "Panther" suffered from childhood illnesses throughout the war. Nevertheless, armed with a long-barreled 75-mm KWK-42 cannon with a length of 70 calibers, this tank was a formidable opponent. So, in one battle "Panther" of SS Hauptscharführer Franz Faumer in Normandy destroyed 9 M4 Sherman and 4 more were captured absolutely serviceable. No wonder "Panther" is considered by some experts to be the best tank of World War II.

PzKpfw IV

The main workhorse of the German armored forces throughout the war. The tank had a large reserve for modernization, thanks to which it was constantly improved and could withstand all its opponents on the battlefield. By the end of the war, when Germany's resources were depleted, the design of the PzKpfw IV was greatly simplified. For example, on the Ausf.J version, the turret electric drive and the auxiliary carburetor engine were removed, and in 1944 the road wheels had to be reduced and the zimmerite coating was abandoned. But the tank soldier, as the "four" is also called, continued to fight.

Sherman Firefly

The long and thin barrel of the gun required careful attitude: in stowed position the Sherman Firefly tower turned 180 degrees and the gun barrel was fixed on a special bracket mounted on the roof of the engine compartment.

In total, 699 tanks were converted: the crew of the vehicle was reduced to 4 people, in addition, the course machine gun was removed to accommodate part of the ammunition.

T-34

No wonder that further developments German anti-tank weapons were aimed primarily at fighting the terrible Soviet tank.

The T-34 was repeatedly modernized throughout the war, the most significant improvement was the installation of a new turret with an 85-mm cannon, which made it possible to fight the German "cats": PzKpfw.VI "Tiger" and PzKpfw V "Panther". By the way, due to their simplicity and efficiency, these tanks are still used in some countries of the world.

T-44

Even more advanced than the T-34-85, medium tank The T-44 was put into service in 1944, but never took part in the war. Before the end of World War II, only 190 cars were built. The T-44 became the predecessor of the most massive tank in history, the T-54/55. By the way, on the battlefield, 44 still lit up, but, however, in the cinema and in the role of German tanks Pz VI "Tiger" in the film "Liberation".

PzKpfw.VI "Tiger"

The best means of combating T-34 and KV tanks was anti-aircraft guns 88 mm caliber, and the Germans rightly decided that if such a weapon was adapted for installation on a tank chassis, then the tank superiority of the USSR could be leveled.

A total of 1358 PzKpfw.VI "Tiger" tanks were built. Armed with the 88mm Kwk L56 cannon, these vehicles wreaked havoc on the enemy ranks.

Tank ace Michael Wittmann, who fought on the PzKpfw.VI "Tiger", destroyed 138 enemy tanks and 132 anti-tank guns. For the Americans and their allies, aviation became the only means of combating the Tigers. Thick frontal armor reliably protected the Pz VI from enemy gun fire. So, there is a case when the tank received 227 hits, but, despite the fact that the tracks and rollers were damaged, it was able to go another 65 kilometers until it was safe.

"Tiger II"

"Tiger II", aka "Royal Tiger", appeared at the final stage of the war. This is the heaviest and most armored tank Wehrmacht. The 88 mm KwK.43 L/71 cannon was used as armament, which almost divided the turret in half. In fact, it was an improved Flak 37 anti-aircraft gun modified for installation on a tank. Its projectile, at a meeting angle of 90 degrees, pierced armor 180 mm thick at a distance of one kilometer.

A downed tank was officially recorded at a distance of about 4 km. True, despite the thick armor, the tank was not invulnerable: by the end of the war, the Germans had lost deposits of alloying metals, and the armor of the "Tiger II" became fragile. And the constant bombing of factories did not allow the production of these machines in the required quantities.

The specialists of the American Military History Museum have chosen 10 best tanks Second World War. It is noteworthy that in the foreign rating there is not only a tank that did not fight, but also self-propelled gun.

Heavy tank "Joseph Stalin"

See all photos in the gallery

The heavy tank "Joseph Stalin", better known as the IS-2, was named after the leader of the USSR and at the time of its appearance was the strongest in the world. Its armor successfully withstood the fire of German anti-tank artillery, and after modernization, when the “stepped” upper frontal part was replaced with its straightened configuration, it could hold the most powerful 88-mm shells at point-blank range. anti-tank gun Pak 43. The tank itself was armed with a 122 mm cannon, the shells of which pierced tanks such as the PzKpfw IV Ausf H, PzKpfw.VI Tiger and PzKpfw V Panther tanks.

JagdPanther

According to the German classification, the JagdPanther is a tank destroyer. This machine is considered one of the best self-propelled guns of the Second World War. Having fought on the Western and Eastern fronts, the JagdPanther proved to be a dangerous enemy, its Pak.43 L/71 (88 mm, 71 caliber) cannon pierced the armor of almost any Allied tank from 1000 meters.

M4 Sherman

The most massive tank of the American army during World War II, about 50 thousand of these vehicles were produced in total.
The simple and reliable M4 Sherman was loved by tank crews. Its 75-mm gun, equipped with a Westinghouse gyroscopic stabilizer, made it possible to fire quite accurately even on the move. However, with the advent of the PzKpfw.VI "Tiger" and PzKpfw V "Panther", its armor penetration was not enough, and subsequently the tank was equipped with a more powerful gun. The main drawbacks of the tank were the high silhouette and weak armor, and the tank often caught fire when a projectile hit it. The Germans even nicknamed the M4 Sherman as the "Burning Cauldron" or "Soldier's Cauldron".

PzKpfw V "Panther"

This tank was created as a response to the Soviet T-34 and was subsequently supposed to replace the Panzer III and IV. Due to the technological complexity of production, this was not possible, as well as to bring the design of the tank to mind - the PzKpfw V "Panther" suffered from childhood illnesses throughout the war. Nevertheless, armed with a long-barreled 75-mm KWK-42 cannon with a length of 70 calibers, this tank was a formidable opponent. So, in one battle, “Panther” of SS Hauptscharführer Franz Faumer in Normandy destroyed 9 M4 Sherman and 4 more were captured absolutely serviceable. No wonder the Panther is considered by some experts to be the best tank of the Second World War.

PzKpfw IV

Sherman Firefly

The British Sherman variant, armed with a magnificent 17-pounder, could withstand the German PzKpfw.VI Tiger and PzKpfw V "Panther". Moreover, the English gun had not only excellent armor penetration, but also fit into a standard tank turret.
The long and thin barrel of the gun required careful handling: in the stowed position, the Sherman Firefly turret turned 180 degrees and the gun barrel was fixed on a special bracket mounted on the roof of the engine compartment.
In total, 699 tanks were converted: the crew of the vehicle was reduced to 4 people, in addition, the course machine gun was removed to accommodate part of the ammunition.

Adopted on December 19, 1941, the tank became a real nightmare for German tankers on the battlefield. Fast, agile and invulnerable to most Wehrmacht tank and anti-tank guns, the T-34 dominated the battlefield for the first two years of the war.
Not surprisingly, further developments of German anti-tank weapons were aimed primarily at fighting the terrible Soviet tank.
The T-34 was repeatedly modernized throughout the war, the most significant improvement was the installation of a new turret with an 85-mm cannon, which made it possible to fight the German "cats": PzKpfw.VI "Tiger" and PzKpfw V "Panther". By the way, due to their simplicity and efficiency, these tanks are still used in some countries of the world.

Even more advanced than the T-34-85, the T-44 medium tank was put into service in 1944, but never took part in the war. Before the end of World War II, only 190 cars were built. The T-44 became the predecessor of the most massive tank in history, the T-54/55. By the way, on the battlefield, 44 still lit up, but, however, in the cinema and in the role of German tanks Pz VI "Tiger" in the film "Liberation".

PzKpfw.VI "Tiger"

The best means of fighting the T-34 and KV tanks were 88 mm anti-aircraft guns, and the Germans rightly decided that if such weapons were adapted for installation on a tank chassis, then the tank superiority of the USSR could be neutralized.
A total of 1358 PzKpfw.VI "Tiger" tanks were built. Armed with the 88mm Kwk L56 cannon, these vehicles wreaked havoc on the enemy ranks.
Tank ace Michael Wittmann, who fought on the PzKpfw.VI "Tiger", destroyed 138 enemy tanks and 132 anti-tank guns. For the Americans and their allies, aviation became the only means of combating the Tigers. Thick frontal armor reliably protected the Pz VI from enemy gun fire. So, there is a case when the tank received 227 hits, but, despite the fact that the tracks and rollers were damaged, it was able to go another 65 kilometers until it was safe.

"Tiger II"

"Tiger II", aka "King Tiger", appeared at the final stage of the war. This is the heaviest and most armored tank of the Wehrmacht. The 88 mm KwK.43 L/71 cannon was used as armament, which almost divided the turret in half. In fact, it was an improved Flak 37 anti-aircraft gun modified for installation on a tank. Its projectile, at a meeting angle of 90 degrees, pierced armor 180 mm thick at a distance of one kilometer.
A downed tank was officially recorded at a distance of about 4 km. True, despite the thick armor, the tank was not invulnerable: by the end of the war, the Germans had lost deposits of alloying metals, and the armor of the "Tiger II" became fragile. And the constant bombing of factories did not allow the production of these machines in the required quantities.

Constant attempts to bury the idea of a tank do not find their implementation. Despite the rapid evolution of anti-tank, there is still no more reliable means of covering soldiers than heavy armored vehicles.

I bring to your attention an overview of the outstanding tanks of the Second World War, created on the basis of the Discovery programs - “Killer Tanks: Steel Fist” and the Military Channel - “Ten Best Tanks of the 20th Century”. Undoubtedly, all the cars from the review are worthy of attention. But I noticed that when describing tanks, experts do not consider its combat as a whole, but only talk about those episodes of World War II when this vehicle was able to prove itself the best way. It is logical to immediately break the war into periods and consider which tank was the best and when. I draw your attention to two important points:

First, one should not confuse strategy and specifications machines. The red flag over Berlin does not mean that the Germans were weak and did not have good equipment. It also follows from this that the possession of the best tanks in the world does not mean that your army will advance victoriously. You can be simply crushed by quantity. Do not forget that the army is a system, the competent use of its heterogeneous forces by the enemy can put you in a difficult position.

Secondly, all disputes, “who is stronger than the IS-2 or the Tiger”, do not make much sense. Tanks rarely fight tanks. Much more often their opponents are enemy defensive lines, fortifications, artillery batteries, infantry and vehicles. In World War II, half of all tank losses were due to anti-tank artillery (which is logical - when the number of tanks went to tens of thousands, the number of guns was in the hundreds of thousands - an order of magnitude more!). Another fierce enemy tanks - mines. About 25% of military vehicles were blown up on them. A few percent were chalked up by aviation. How much was left for tank battles then ?!

From this follows the conclusion that tank battle near Prokhorovka - a rare exotic. At present, this trend continues - instead of the anti-tank "forty-five" are RPGs.
Well, now let's move on to our favorite cars.

Period 1939-1940. Blitzkrieg

... Predawn haze, fog, shooting and the roar of engines. On the morning of May 10, 1940, the Wehrmacht breaks into Holland. After 17 days, Belgium fell, the remnants of the English Expeditionary Force were evacuated across the English Channel. On June 14, German tanks appeared on the streets of Paris ...

One of the conditions of the "blitzkrieg" is a special tactic of using tanks: an unprecedented concentration of armored vehicles in the direction of the main attacks and well-coordinated actions of the Germans allowed the "steel claws" of Goth and Guderian to crash into the defense for hundreds of kilometers, and, without slowing down, move deep into the enemy's territory . A unique tactical technique required special technical solutions. German armored vehicles without fail equipped with radio stations, with tank battalions there were air traffic controllers for emergency communications with the Luftwaffe.

It was at this time that the “finest hour” of the Panzerkampfwagen III and Panzerkampfwagen IV fell. Behind such clumsy names hide formidable combat vehicles that have wound the asphalt of European roads, the icy expanses of Russia and the sands of the Sahara on their tracks.

PzKpfw III, better known as T-III - light tank with a 37 mm gun. Booking from all angles - 30 mm. The main quality is Speed (40 km / h on the highway). Thanks to the perfect Carl Zeiss optics, ergonomic crew jobs and the presence of a radio station, the “troikas” could successfully fight with much heavier vehicles. But with the advent of new opponents, the shortcomings of the T-III manifested themselves more clearly. The Germans replaced the 37 mm guns with 50 mm guns and covered the tank with hinged screens - temporary measures gave their results, the T-III fought for several more years. By 1943, the release of the T-III was discontinued due to the complete exhaustion of its resource for modernization. In total, German industry produced 5,000 triples.

The PzKpfw IV, which became the most bulk tank Panzerwaffe - the Germans managed to build 8700 vehicles. Combining all the advantages of the lighter T-III, the "four" had a high firepower and security - the thickness of the frontal plate was gradually increased to 80 mm, and the shells of its 75 mm long-barreled gun pierced the armor of enemy tanks like foil (by the way, 1133 early modifications with a short-barreled gun were fired).

The weak points of the machine are too thin sides and feed (only 30 mm on the first modifications), the designers neglected the slope of the armor plates for the sake of manufacturability and the convenience of the crew.

Seven thousand tanks of this type remained lying on the battlefields of World War II, but this T-IV history did not end - the “fours” were operated in the armies of France and Czechoslovakia until the early 1950s and even took part in the Six-Day Arab-Israeli War of 1967.

Period 1941-1942. Red Dawn

“... from three sides we fired at the iron monsters of the Russians, but everything was in vain. Russian giants came closer and closer. One of them approached our tank, hopelessly bogged down in a swampy pond, and without any hesitation drove over it, pressing its tracks into the mud ... "
- General Reinhard, commander of the 41st tank corps of the Wehrmacht

... On August 20, 1941, the KV tank under the command of senior lieutenant Zinovy Kolobanov blocked the road to Gatchina for a column of 40 German tanks. When this unprecedented battle ended, 22 tanks were burning on the sidelines, and our KV, having received 156 direct hits from enemy shells, returned to the disposal of its division ...

In the summer of 1941, the KV tank smashed the elite units of the Wehrmacht with impunity as if it had rolled out onto the Borodino field in 1812. Invincible, invincible and extremely powerful. Until the end of 1941, in all the armies of the world there was no weapon at all capable of stopping the Russian 45-ton monster. KV was 2 times heavier than the big tank Wehrmacht.

Bronya KV is a wonderful song of steel and technology. 75 millimeters of steel firmament from all angles! The frontal armor plates had an optimal angle of inclination, which further increased the projectile resistance of the KV armor - German 37 mm anti-tank guns did not take it even at close range, and 50 mm guns - no further than 500 meters. At the same time, the long-barreled 76 mm gun F-34 (ZIS-5) made it possible to hit any german tank of that period from a distance of 1.5 kilometers.

If battles like the legendary battle of Zinovy Kolobanov took place regularly, then 235 KV tanks of the Southern Military District could completely destroy the Panzerwaffe in the summer of 1941. The technical capabilities of the KV tanks, in theory, made it possible to do this. Alas, not everything is so clear. Remember - we said that tanks rarely fight tanks ...

In addition to the invulnerable KV, the Red Army had even more scary tank- the great warrior T-34.
"... There is nothing more terrible than a tank battle against superior enemy forces. Not in terms of numbers - it was not important for us, we were used to it. But against more good cars- this is terrible... Russian tanks are so nimble, at close range they will climb a slope or cross a swamp faster than you can turn the tower. And through the noise and roar, you hear the clang of shells on the armor all the time. When they hit our tank, you often hear a deafening explosion and the roar of burning fuel, too loud to hear the death cries of the crew ... "
- the opinion of a German tanker from the 4th tank division, destroyed by T-34 tanks in the battle near Mtsensk on October 11, 1941.

Neither the volume nor the objectives of this article allow us to fully cover the history of the T-34 tank. Obviously, the Russian monster had no analogues in 1941: a 500-horsepower diesel engine, unique armor, a 76 mm F-34 gun (generally similar to the KV tank) and wide tracks - all these technical solutions provided the T-34 with an optimal ratio of mobility, fire power and security. Even individually, these parameters for the T-34 were higher than for any Panzerwaffe tank.

The main thing is that the Soviet designers managed to create the tank exactly the way the Red Army needed it. The T-34 was ideally suited to the conditions of the Eastern Front. The extreme simplicity and manufacturability of the design made it possible to as soon as possible to establish mass production of these combat vehicles, as a result - the T-34s were easy to operate, numerous and ubiquitous.

Only in the first year of the war, by the summer of 1942, the Red Army received about 15,000 T-34s, and in total more than 84,000 T-34s of all modifications were produced.

The journalists of the Discovery program were jealous of the successes of Soviet tank building, constantly hinting that the successful tank was based on the American Christie design. In a joking manner, the Russian “rudeness” and “uncouthness” got it - “Well! I didn’t have time to climb into the hatch - I was all scratched up! Americans forget that convenience was not a priority for armored vehicles on the Eastern Front; the fierce nature of the fighting did not allow tankers to think about such trifles. The main thing is not to burn out in the tank.

The "thirty-four" had much more serious shortcomings. Transmission is the weak link of the T-34. The German design school preferred a front-mounted gearbox, closer to the driver. Soviet engineers took a more efficient path - the transmission and engine were compactly located in an isolated compartment in the stern of the T-34. There was no need for a long cardan shaft through the entire body of the tank; the design was simplified, the height of the machine was reduced. Isn't it an excellent technical solution?

Cardan was not needed. But control rods were needed. At the T-34, they reached a length of 5 meters! Can you imagine what effort the driver had to make? But even this did not create any special problems - in an extreme situation, a person is able to run on his hands and row with his ears. But what the Soviet tankers could withstand, metal could not withstand. Under the influence of monstrous loads, the thrusts were torn. As a result, many T-34s went into battle in one pre-selected gear. During the battle, they preferred not to touch the gearbox at all - according to veteran tankers, it was better to sacrifice mobility than suddenly turn into a standing target.

The T-34 is a completely ruthless tank, both in relation to the enemy and in relation to its own crew. It remains only to admire the courage of the tankers.

Year 1943. Menagerie.

“... we went around through the beam and ran into the Tiger. Having lost several T-34s, our battalion returned back ... "
- frequent description of encounters with PzKPfw VI from the memoirs of tankmen

1943, the time of the greats tank battles. Trying to get back what was lost technical superiority, Germany creates by this time two new models of "superweapons" - heavy tanks "Tiger" and "Panther".

Panzerkampfwagen VI "Tiger" Ausf. The H1 was designed as a heavy breakthrough tank capable of destroying any enemy and putting the Red Army to flight. By personal order of Hitler, the thickness of the frontal armor plate was to be at least 100 mm, the sides and stern of the tank were protected by eight centimeters of metal. The main weapon is the 88 mm KwK 36 cannon, based on the powerful anti-aircraft gun. Its capabilities are evidenced by the fact that when firing from the cannon of the captured Tiger, it was possible to achieve five successive hits on a target measuring 40 × 50 cm from a distance of 1100 m. In addition to high flatness, the KwK 36 inherited the high rate of fire of anti-aircraft guns. In combat conditions, the Tiger fired eight rounds per minute, which was a record for such large tank guns. Six crew members were comfortably located in an invulnerable steel box, weighing 57 tons, looking at the wide Russian expanses through high-quality Carl Zeiss optics.

The bulky German monster is often described as a slow and clumsy tank. In reality, the Tiger was one of the fastest combat vehicles of World War II. The 700-horsepower Maybach engine accelerated the Tiger to 45 km / h on the highway. No less fast and maneuverable this thick-skinned tank was on rough terrain, thanks to an eight-speed hydromechanical gearbox (almost automatic, like on a Mercedes!) And complex side clutches with dual power supply.

At first glance, the design of the suspension and tracked propulsion was a parody of itself - tracks 0.7 meters wide required the installation of a second row of rollers on each side. In this form, the "Tiger" did not fit on the railway platform, each time it was necessary to remove the "ordinary" caterpillar tracks and the outer row of rollers, instead installing thin "transport" tracks. It remains to be surprised at the strength of those guys who "undressed" a 60-ton colossus in field conditions. But there were also advantages to the strange suspension of the "Tiger" - two rows of rollers provided high smoothness, our veterans witnessed cases when the "Tiger" fired on the move.

The "Tiger" had another drawback that frightened the Germans. It was an inscription in the technical memo that lay in each car: “The tank costs 800,000 Reichsmarks. Take care of him!"
According to the perverse logic of Goebbels, the tankers should have been very happy to learn that their "Tiger" costs as much as seven T-IV tanks.

Realizing that the "Tiger" is a rare and exotic weapon for professionals, German tank builders created a simpler and cheaper tank, with the intention of turning it into a mass Wehrmacht medium tank.
Panzerkampfwagen V "Panther" is still the subject of heated debate. The technical capabilities of the car do not cause any complaints - with a mass of 44 tons, the Panther was superior in mobility to the T-34, developing 55-60 km / h on a good highway. The tank was armed with a 75 mm KwK 42 cannon with a barrel length of 70 calibers! An armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile fired from its infernal vent flew 1 kilometer in the first second - with such performance characteristics, the Panther's cannon could pierce any Allied tank at a distance of more than 2 kilometers. Reservation "Panther" by most sources is also recognized as worthy - the thickness of the forehead varied from 60 to 80 mm, while the angles of the armor reached 55 °. The board was weaker protected - at the level of the T-34, so it was easily hit by Soviet anti-tank weapons. The lower part of the side was additionally protected by two rows of rollers on each side.

The whole question is in the very appearance of the Panther - did the Reich need such a tank? Perhaps we should have focused our efforts on modernizing and increasing the production of proven T-IVs? Or spend money on building invincible Tigers? It seems to me that the answer is simple - in 1943, nothing could save Germany from defeat.

In total, less than 6,000 Panthers were built, which was clearly not enough to saturate the Wehrmacht. The situation was aggravated by the decline in the quality of tank armor due to a lack of resources and alloying additives.
"Panther" was the quintessence of advanced ideas and new technologies. In March 1945, hundreds of Panthers equipped with night vision devices attacked Soviet troops near Balaton at night. Even that didn't help.

Year 1944. Forward to Berlin!

The changed conditions demanded new means of warfare. By this time, the Soviet troops had already received the heavy breakthrough tank IS-2, armed with a 122 mm howitzer. If the hit of an ordinary tank shell caused local destruction of the wall, then a 122 mm howitzer shell demolished the entire house. What was required for successful assault operations.

Other formidable weapon tank - 12.7 mm DShK machine gun mounted on a turret on a pivot mount. bullets heavy machine gun they got the enemy even behind thick brickwork. The DShK increased the capabilities of the Is-2 by an order of magnitude in battles on the streets of European cities.

The armor thickness of the IS-2 reached 120 mm. One of the main achievements of Soviet engineers is the cost-effectiveness and low metal consumption of the IS-2 design. With a mass comparable to the mass of the Panther, the Soviet tank was much more seriously protected. But too tight layout required the placement of fuel tanks in the control compartment - when the armor was broken, the crew of the Is-2 had little chance of surviving. The driver, who did not have his own hatch, was especially at risk.
The IS-2 liberator tanks became the personification of the Victory and were in service Soviet army nearly 50 years old.

The next hero, the M4 Sherman, managed to fight on the Eastern Front, the first vehicles of this type came to the USSR back in 1942 (the number of M4 tanks delivered under Lend-Lease was 3,600 tanks). But fame came to him only after mass application in the West in 1944.

Sherman is the pinnacle of rationality and pragmatism. It is all the more surprising that the United States, which had 50 tanks at the beginning of the war, managed to create such a balanced combat vehicle and to rivet by 1945 49,000 Shermans of various modifications. For example, in ground forces used "Sherman" with a gasoline engine, and in units Marine Corps received a modification of the M4A2, equipped with a diesel engine. American engineers rightly believed that this would greatly simplify the operation of tanks - diesel fuel could be easily found among sailors, unlike high-octane gasoline. By the way, it was this modification of the M4A2 that entered the Soviet Union.

No less famous are the special versions of the Sherman - the Firefly tank hunter, armed with a British 17-pounder gun; "Jumbo" - a heavily armored version in an assault kit and even an amphibious "Duplex Drive".
Compared to the swift forms of the T-34, the Sherman is tall and clumsy. With the same weapons american tank significantly loses in mobility to the T-34.

Why did the Emcha (as our soldiers called the M4) so pleased the command of the Red Army that they were completely transferred to elite units, for example, the 1st Guards Mechanized Corps and the 9th Guards Tank Corps? The answer is simple: "Sherman" had the optimal ratio of armor, firepower, mobility and ... reliability. In addition, the Sherman was the first tank with a hydraulic turret drive (this provided special aiming accuracy) and a gun stabilizer in a vertical plane - the tankers admitted that in a duel situation their shot was always the first. Other advantages of the Sherman, not usually listed in the tables, were low noise, which made it possible to use it in operations where stealth was needed.

The Middle East gave the Sherman a second life, where this tank served until the 70s of the twentieth century, taking part in more than a dozen battles. The last Shermans completed their military service in Chile at the end of the 20th century.

Year 1945. Ghosts of future wars.

Many people expected that after the monstrous victims and destruction of the Second World War, the long-awaited lasting peace. Alas, their expectations were not met. On the contrary, ideological, economic and religious contradictions became even more acute.

This was well understood by those who created new weapons systems - therefore, the military-industrial complex of the victorious countries did not stop for a minute. Even when the Victory was already obvious, and Nazi Germany was fighting in its death throes, theoretical and experimental research continued at the factories, and new types of weapons were being developed. Special attention was given to armored forces that had proven themselves during the war. Starting with bulky and uncontrollable multi-turreted monsters and ugly wedges, just a few years later, tank building reached a fundamentally different level. where again faced with many threats, tk. anti-tank weapons have successfully evolved. In this regard, it is curious to look at the tanks with which the Allies ended the war, what conclusions were drawn and what measures were taken.

In the USSR, in May 1945, the first batch of IS-3s was rolled out of the factory workshops of Tankograd. New tank was a further modernization of the heavy IS-2. This time, the designers went even further - the slope of the welded sheets, especially in the front of the hull, was brought to the maximum possible. Thick 110-mm plates of frontal armor were arranged in such a way that a tri-slope, cone-shaped, forward-elongated nose was formed, which was called the "pike nose". The turret received a new flattened shape, which provided the tank with even better anti-projectile protection. The driver received his own hatch, and all viewing slots were replaced with modern periscope devices.
The IS-3 was a few days late for the end of hostilities in Europe, but the new beautiful tank took part in the Victory Parade along with the legendary T-34 and KV, still covered in soot from recent battles. A visible change of generations.

Another interesting novelty was the T-44 (in my opinion, a landmark event in Soviet tank building). Actually, it was developed back in 1944, but did not have time to take part in the war. Only in 1945 did the troops receive a sufficient number of these excellent tanks.
A major drawback of the T-34 was the turret moved forward. This increased the load on the front rollers and made it impossible to strengthen the frontal armor of the T-34 - the "thirty-four" ran until the end of the war with a 45 mm forehead. Realizing that the problem could not be solved just like that, the designers decided on a complete re-arrangement of the tank. Due to the transverse placement of the engine, the dimensions of the MTO have decreased, which made it possible to mount the tower in the center of the tank. The load on the rollers was leveled, the frontal armor plate increased to 120 mm (!), And its slope increased to 60 °. The working conditions of the crew have improved. The T-44 became the prototype of the famous T-54/55 family.

A specific situation has developed overseas. The Americans guessed that in addition to the successful Sherman, the army needed a new, heavier tank. The result was the M26 Pershing, a large medium tank (sometimes considered heavy) with heavy armor and a new 90mm gun. This time the Americans failed to create a masterpiece. Technically, the Pershing remained at the level of the Panther, while having slightly greater reliability. The tank had problems with mobility and maneuverability - the M26 was equipped with an engine from the Sherman, while having a 10-ton weight more. Limited use of "Pershing" on Western front began only in February 1945. The next time the Pershings went into battle was already in Korea.